Ideas for Disney Cruise Door Decorations

One of the best tips we can give you when going on a Disney Cruise is to decorate your stateroom door! Not only does it make your door super cute, but it will also help you locate your room in a never-ending sea of stateroom doors.

Cruise Ship hallways tend to be long and narrow. And all of the doors basically look the same. This is where stateroom door decorations come into play. There are a lot of options when it comes to cruise door decorations, so use your imagination and add a bit of magic to your Disney Cruise vacation!

Disney Cruise Door Decorations – Tradition

Much like decorating your resort windows at Walt Disney World, decorating your stateroom cabin on a Disney Cruise not only helps you find your room, but also adds a little bit of extra magic to your stay. From picking a theme, to making decorations, a decorated door is all about sharing your family’s vibe with the other cruisers. And learning more about the other families on your deck. Perhaps you’re a Tangled family, or Pixar family or Star Wars family? While you don’t need to pick just one, creating a door that says it all is half the fun.

This Disney Cruise tradition is also a great way to connect with other families, and break the ice, whether or not you’re participating in the Fish Extenders group for your cruise. (Of course, you can find out more about the fish extender group in the Facebook Page for your specific cruise sailing. Every sailing has one!)

Disney Cruise Door Decorations – Rules

In general Disney Cruise Line keeps things pretty simple when it comes to Disney Cruise Door Decoration Rules. Disney Cruise stateroom doors are magnetic. This is true for all stateroom doors except concierge level rooms on the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy. So magnets or magnetic items are the best place to start! Here a few things you cannot use on your DCL door.

1. Nothing Adhesive
2. Nothing Valuable
3. No Over the Door Organizers

So, where does that leave you? With things that are magnetic! Luckily, there are lots of kinds of magnets that you can glue onto paper crafts, use to make your own DIY Cruise Door Magnets, and there are even little metal hooks, that can allow you to tie things like flag banners, lights and mini stockings too.

While there are restrictions for your cruise stateroom door, feel free to get creative! We love seeing other guests’ doors and have even been “pixie dusted” in the past by others guests who love our door in return. Have fun with it and use your imagination!

Disney Cruise Door Decorations – Details

In addition to the rules about decorating your Disney Cruise Door, there are a few other things to know before you go.

• Disney Cruise Stateroom Door Size. Disney Cruise Stateroom Doors are about 28″x 77″. This is good to know if you’re planning a full door decoration, or covering it in wrapping paper or fabric- adhered with magnets of course. We see this most during the seasonal cruises, where a giant Oogie Boogie or Santa Claus play a role in someone’s door decs.
• Disney Cruise Stateroom Number Shapes: Every Disney Cruise Door comes with a door number that is either in the shape of a circle ( on the original 5 ships), or a rectangle ( on the Wish, Treasure and Destiny). Circles are about 7.5″ in diameter, and Rectangles are 4.5″ x 7.”

Disney Cruise Door Decorations – Stateroom Number Decorations

One of the most popular ways of decorating your Disney Cruise Stateroom door is to take advantage of what’s already on the door; the Stateroom Number Plates. Now, on the OG Disney Cruise Ships stateroom number plates are circle shapes, making it the perfect for a Mickey Head or a full on Mickey Mouse.

On the newer ships, this number plate is an elegant little rectangle, which could allow for characters peeking out from behind it. Either way, know that every door has a number plate and you can choose to work with it, as part of your design, or ignore it. Your call.

Disney Cruise Door Decorations – Magnets

You can keep things simple and just bring some fun magnets. This is going to be the easiest and most common way to decorate your Disney Cruise stateroom door. Whether you’re cruising to the Caribbean, Europe, or Alaska, we’ve got you covered! You can find our writable Disney Cruise door magnets at Polka Dot Pixie Shop for whatever ship you’re sailing, or destination! (Our magnets even have spaces so you can write your family names, or destination.)

You can also find plenty of magnetic door decorations for your cruise on Esty as well. And if you forget to pack something for your stateroom door, the cruise ships sell a few simple magnet packs inside the gift shops onboard.

Making your own Disney Cruise Stateroom Door Magnets

Want to do a little Disney DIY? Why not make your own stateroom door magnets? This is actually a lot easier to do than it might sound. You can look for free printable cruise door decorations online or purchase a cruise PNG, SVG or JPEG of an image you’d like to be made into a magnet.

Once you’ve found your perfect image, you can either have it made into a magnet by a professional printing service, or you can make decorations yourself at home. Some items we’ve found useful in the past for decorating and creating decorations for our cruise stateroom door.

• Magnetic Backings– can turn any craft into a door decoration. Just apply to the back and you’re all set!
• Magnetic Hooks– these are useful for hanging things like banners or battery operated string lights.
• Printable Magnetic sheets – easiest to use with a cricut, though all you really need is a printer and a good pair of scissors
• Magnetic Sheets with adhesive backing– I would say this is the most complicated of the materials to work with, as you not only have to cut the backing, but also the printed material that attaches to it. If you’re really crafty, this is a good option. But I think it definitely needs to be used with a Cricut or Silhouette.

Disney Cruise Door Decorations – Printables

Depending on your Cruise Door theme, you can also find a variety of printable Disney Cruise Door Decorations online. And since you’re simply gluing some magnet backings to your paper crafts, the sky’s the limit! From your child’s artwork, to cutouts of your family name, there are plenty of ways to add printables to your door.

Disney Cruise Line Printable Door Decorations

And if you’re looking for something “official” and fun, Disney Parks Blog released this free decorate your stateroom door pack with Disney characters that can be used to make your own magnets as well! Download the Stateroom Door at Home Art Pack.

Disney Cruise Door Decorations – Family Flags

Another fun Disney Cruise Door Decoration we see onboard quite a bit are banner flags. Often just a piece of string, attached to magnetic hooks, the flags feature favorite characters, family names, or sometimes even destinations. Easy to make with paper or fabric, we love these as a unique way to share more about your family with other cruisers. Just cut a set of triangles and grab some string to get started. You can grab a flag template, in our Cruise Surprise Kit.

Disney Cruise Door Decorations for Halloween

For Halloween on the High Seas cruises, you may want to decorate your door a bit festive! Disney Cruise Door decoration ideas for Halloween Cruises can be simple or spooky! We love using cut-out bats cut from our Circut. If you don’t have a Cricut, or want to keep it simple, finding cut-out bats during the Halloween season is really pretty easy. Just check the seasonal decor section at most stores. Or, of course, you can always just cut them out by hand as well. Glue small magnets to the back and voila! Easy, simple and effective.

Things like Haunted Mansion inspired doors, and Nightmare Before Christmas are favorites of many cruisers. Just grab some battery operated string lights to add more flair. As long as you’re not violating any of the rules set by Disney Cruise line, feel free to go all out.

Disney Cruise Door Decorations for Christmas

You can also add a little festive to your cruise stateroom door on your next Very Merrytime Disney Christmas Cruise. The holidays is one of the best times to decorate your DCL cabin door. You can add things like battery powered Christmas lights, mini stockings, garlands, and even shatterproof ornaments. It’s easy to add Disney Cruise Christmas decorations with little magnetic hooks and its brings a little extra cheer to the hallway.

Disney Cruise Door Decoration Ideas

There you have it! Decorating your cruise stateroom door is just a simple way to add a bit more magic to your cruise vacation! Whether you’re just grabbing a few cute magnets, or decorating up a storm, hopefully this post has been helpful. Happy cruising!